Dangerous Touch
In 1995, I was up, and getting ready for a band trip. My parents were not around- I think they were asleep- and I decided to watch some TV before I left. I was flipping channels and I saw a movie on. A beautiful blonde woman was in a hotel room with Lou Diamond Phillips, whom I recognized from “La Bamba,” and she was naked, and they were getting ready to have sex. I didn’t watch enough to get the title of the movie, but it left an impression. It was my first real experience with erotic cinema, and I would later track down the movie, called “Dangerous Touch.” It’s a very basic erotic thriller, but Phillips- in his first time out as a director- acquits himself well at building this film’s story.
The focus of the film is Amanda Grace (Kate Vernon), a radio therapist whose book about sex is getting a lot of heat. Her main subject is sex, but she also deals with general topics, as well. One day, Mick (Phillips) comes up to her at a book signing, and soon, he is ingratiated into her life. He brings out her wild side sexually, taking her in public settings, in a car, and even trying to get her to do some bondage for him. It turns out he has an angle- he’s a con man, and he’s trying to get information on one of her clients. If she refuses, though, he’s prepared to make her life a living Hell.
We hear Vernon’s voice on the soundtrack before we see her, and she has a great voice for this character, able to put a sensual spin on this cliché-ridden dialogue every time. When we first see her, she is with a man, who is taking her from behind while they’re standing up. Immediately, we see the type of person Amanda is sexually, but one thing that makes “Dangerous Touch” a bit odd is how she almost devolves in her sexual attitudes throughout the film. At a certain point in the film, Mick blackmails her to get what he wants, and it involves a lesbian encounter with bondage that is videotapes- which was another one of the scenes I saw back in 1995- and her reaction is intended to show how harrowing that is for her. Was it being with another woman that made her feel uncomfortable? She later says, after the tape is released, that she doesn’t regret what she did, but the contradiction in reactions points to the ways that, for someone who claims to be free about her sexuality, she’s also stuck in a 1990s degree of conservatism about some things. Of course, she’s also almost forced into the lesbian situation by Mick, which means her agency is diminished, which could be the underlying part of the character’s distress.
For his first film out as a director, Phillips chose quite a subject to explore. By this point, the direct-to-video erotic drama was heavy business, but even if his star was not as bright as it was after “La Bamba,” the script by he and Kurt Voss feels like that of an up-and-coming actor trying to make a name for themselves in the market, not an established actor. Even though his name is above the title, though, Phillips’s Mick is a supporting character- Amanda is the main character, and that dynamic feels natural, and the performances by Vernon and Phillips are good. He shows a good command of storytelling language and making the sex scenes sizzle, even if some things don’t entirely work- I don’t feel like Amanda’s psychology practice is well defined, and some of the stuff involving Mick’s associates is more silly than scary- but ultimately, the film works, because it understands that just because the devil you know is a good lay, they’re still a devil, and Amanda earns back her agency. “Dangerous Touch” may seem like a generic erotic thriller, but it’s a solid one that deserves a look, if you’re a fan of the genre.
